User:Est. 2021/Draft/Śuri/Connections

Names edit

ToMerge edit

Sun and lightning god edit

Rath,[1][2][3] Usil[4] and Apulu[1][2] are epithets of Śuri as god of the sun, light and lightning (as well as the underworld, volcanoes, fire, health and plague), roughly equivalent to the Greco-Roman god Apollo (Aeolic Greek: Áploun; Hittite: Āppaliunāš; Etruscan: Apulu or Aplu).[5][6][7]

Usil edit

 
Chariot fitting representing Usil, 500–475 BCE, Hermitage Museum

Usil (Etruscan: 𐌋𐌉𐌔𐌖, romanizedUsil, lit.'light')[9] is an epithet of the Etruscan fire god Śuri as chthonic sun god, later nicknamed Apulu (Apollo).[4]

He is the representation of power and strength.[10][11] His iconic depiction features the god rising out of the sea, with a fireball in either outstretched hand, on an engraved Etruscan bronze mirror in late Archaic style, formerly on the Roman antiquities market.[12] On Etruscan mirrors in Classical style, Usil appears with a halo. However, while the god is depicted as male in most artworks, there are also feminine depictions.[13][14] In particular, there is a possible equation with another indigenous Etruscan goddess, Catha, which is often interpreted as having a solar character.

His places of worship, according to Mauro Cristofani, are in Cortona, Populonia and Magliano,[15][16] but there are also traces of a priestly college in Tarquinia and Tuscania.

Usil has been syncretised with the Greek Helios and Roman Sol, and later Apollo (Apulu); in fact, he appears on an Etruscan mirror from the Vatican dating from the 4th century BC, on which Usil is seen holding the bow of Apulu.[4] In artwork Usil is shown in close association with Thesan, the dawn goddess, something almost never seen with Helios and Eos.[17]

Liver of Piacenza edit

Usil and Catha are named on the Piacenza Liver on the right lobe, where the gods of the lights and heavens are listed.[18]

Merge

Usil is inscribed on the convex face of the Liver of Piacenza,[4] which is separated into two lobes, one representing Usil and the second representing Tiur.[19]

Merge

His name appears on the bronze liver of Piacenza, next to the word tiur, meaning both "moon" and "month"[20] (probably lunar month), equivalent to Greek mēnē; Tiur has then been identified as the name of a lunar goddess and consort of Usil, but the inscription was most likely a date. The inscriptions on the Pyrgi Tablets confirm that "tiur" was meant as "month" for datations,[21] while Usil's consort was actually named Catha.[7]

HIDDEN PARAGRAPH

Apulu edit

Apulu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌖𐌐𐌀), also syncopated as Aplu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌐𐌀), is an epithet of the Etruscan fire god Śuri[1][2][22][23][24] as chthonic sky god, roughly equivalent to the Greco-Roman god Apollo.[5][6][7] The name Apulu or Aplu did not come directly from Greece but via a Latin center, probably Palestrina.[25][26][17]

HIDDEN PARAGRAPH

Mentions and iconography edit

He's mentioned as son of Tinia and Semla, brother of Fufluns and twin brother of Aritimi.[17]

In art, he is depicted with a crown and laurel branches. His most famous representation is the Apollo of Veii, attributed to Vulcas.

He does not appear on the Liver of Piacenza.

Hittite equivalent edit

Aplu may be related with Apaliunas, who is considered to be the Hittite reflex of *Apeljōn, an early form of the name “Apollo”.[27]

Underworld god edit

Calu[23][28][2] and Aita[29][1][30][2] are epithets of Śuri as god of the underworld and wolves (as well as volcanoes, fire, health and plague), roughly equivalent to the Greco-Roman god Pluto, also known as Dīs Pater or Hades (Epic and Ionic Greek: Ἄϊδης, romanized: Áïdēs; Etruscan: Aita).[31][29][1][30][2]

  • Calu, also used as a synonym for the underworld.[32]
  • Aita / Eita, cognate to Epic Greek: Ἄϊδης, romanized: Áïdēs, also used as a synonym for the underworld.[33]

Calu edit

Calu (Etruscan: 𐌖𐌋𐌀𐌂, romanizedCalu, lit.'dark, darkness')[34][35] is an epithet of the Etruscan chthonic fire god Śuri[23][28][2] as god of the underworld, roughly equivalent to the Greek god Hades (Epic Greek: Ἄϊδης, romanized: Áïdēs; Etruscan: 𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌀, romanizedAita); moroeover, as with Hades, this god-name was also used as a synonym for the underworld itself.[32]

He is identified by his wolf attributes, such as a wolf-like appearance or a human with a wolf-skin cap.[36] The visual representations of the cult of Calu seem to contain common elements with the Roman cult of Lupercalia and the Faliscan cult of the Hirpi Sorani ("wolves of Soranus", from Sabine: hirpus, lit.'wolf').[28]

Aita edit

Aita (Etruscan: 𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌀), also spelled Eita (Etruscan: 𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌄), is an epithet of the Etruscan chthonic fire god Śuri[31][29][1][2] as god of the underworld, roughly equivalent to the Greek god Hades (Epic Greek: Ἄϊδης, romanized: Áïdēs).[37]

Images edit

 
Tomba Golini, Orvieto
 
Aita (Etruscan: 𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌀) and Phersipnai (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌀𐌍𐌐𐌉𐌔𐌛𐌄𐌘). Tomba dell’Orco II, Tarquinia

Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan pantheon, appearing in iconography and in Etruscan text beginning in the 4th century BC, and is heavily influenced by his Greek counterpart, Hades.[38][39] Aita is pictured in only a few instances in Etruscan tomb painting, such as in the Golini Tomb from Orvieto and the tomb of Orcus II from Tarquinia.[40] In these tomb paintings, he is shown with his consort Persipnei (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌄𐌍𐌐𐌉𐌔𐌛𐌄𐌐), also spelled Phersipnai (Etruscan: 𐌉𐌀𐌍𐌐𐌉𐌔𐌛𐌄𐌘), the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Persephone.[41]

Although Aita is very rarely depicted, he may appear enthroned and sometimes wears a wolf cap, borrowing a key attribute from the earlier Etruscan underworld wolf-deity, named Calu.[42] Other examples of Aita in Etruscan art depict his abduction of Persipnei. Aside from tomb painting, Aita may be identified in a few examples in other media, including on a 4th-century painted vase from Vulci, two 2nd century alabaster ash urns from Volterra, and a Red Figure 4th-3rd century Oinochoe.[43]

Underworld and lightning god edit

Vetis,[44][2] Manth[45][1][2] and Summanus are epithets of Śuri as god of the underworld, wolves and lightning (as well as volcanoes, fire, health and plague), ideally opposed to the Greco-Roman god Zeus/Jupiter (Latin: Iūpiter), but also equated with Hades, Apollo and Asclepius.

Vetis edit

Vetis (Etruscan: 𐌔𐌉𐌕𐌄𐌅) or Veivis (Etruscan: 𐌔𐌉𐌅𐌉𐌄𐌅), latinized as Vejovis (Latin: Vēiovis or Vēdiovis; rare Vēive or Vēdius), was a Roman god of Etruscan origins.

Representation edit

 
O: Diademed bust of Vejovis hurling thunderbolt R: Minerva with javelin and shield riding quadriga

LICINIUS·L·F / MACER

Silver denarius struck in Rome 84 BC

ref.: Licinia 16; sear5 #274; Cr354/1; Syd 732

Vejovis was portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows, pilum or lightning bolts in his hand, and accompanied by a goat.

Romans believed that Vejovis was one of the first gods to be born. Though he was associated with volcanic eruptions, his original role and function is obscured to us.[50] He is occasionally identified with Apollo and young Jupiter[44][51] but he also was a god of healing, and became associated with the Greek Asclepius.[52]

Aulus Gellius, in the Noctes Atticae, written almost a millennium after; speculated that Vejovis was an ill-omened counterpart of Jupiter; compare Summanus. Aulus Gellius observes that the particle ve- that prefixes the name of the god also appears in Latin words such as vesanus, "insane," and thus interprets the name Vejovis as the anti-Jove.[53][54]

Worship edit

He was mostly worshipped in Rome and Bovillae, in Latium. On the Capitoline Hill and on the Tiber Island, temples were erected in his honour.[55] Among them, there was a temple between the two peaks of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where his statue carried a bundle of arrows and stood next to a statue of a she-goat.

Sacrifices edit

In spring, multiple goats were sacrificed to him to avert plagues. Gellius informs us that Vejovis received the sacrifice of a female goat, sacrificed ritu humano;[53] this obscure phrase could either mean "after the manner of a human sacrifice" or "in the manner of a burial."[56] These offerings were less about the animal sacrificed and more about the soul sacrificed.

Festivals edit

Vejovis had three festivals in the Roman Calendar: on 1 January, 7 March, and 21 May.[57]

Manth edit

Manth (Etruscan: 𐌈𐌍𐌀𐌌, romanizedManth), latinized as Mantus, is an epithet of the Etruscan chthonic fire god Śuri[45][1][2] as god of the underworld; this name was primarily used in the Po Valley, as described by Servius,[46] but a dedication to the god manθ from the Archaic period was found in a sanctuary in Pontecagnano, Southern Italy. His name is thought to be the origin of Mantua (Italian Mantova), the birthplace of Virgil.[45]

Elsewhere in Etruria, the god was called Śuri, latinized as Soranus, a cross-cultural deity associated with the underworld.[45]

Consort edit

When paired with the epithet Mantus, his consort Catha (Etruscan: 𐌀𐌈𐌀𐌂) was also called Mania (Etruscan: 𐌀𐌉𐌍𐌀𐌌); she was a goddess of the dead, spirits and chaos: she was said to be the mother of ghosts, the undead, and other spirits of the night, as well as the Lares and the Manes. She, along with Mantus, ruled the underworld.

The epithets of this divine couple indicate that they were connected to the Manes, chthonic divinities or spirits of the dead in ancient Roman belief and called man(im) by the Etruscans.[58][59]

Their names are also linked to Mana Genita and Manius,[60] as well as the Greek Mania (or Maniae), goddess of insanity and madness. Both the Greek and Latin Mania derive from PIE (Proto-Indo-European) *men-, "to think." Cognates include Ancient Greek μένος, ménos, 'mind, thought', and Avestan 𐬎𐬫𐬥𐬌𐬀𐬨, mainyu, 'spirit'.

Summanus edit

Summanus (Latin: Summānus) was the god of nocturnal thunder in ancient Roman religion, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal (daylight) thunder.[61] His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid.[62]

Pliny thought that he was of Etruscan origin, and one of the nine gods of thunder.[63] Varro, however, lists Summanus among gods he considers of Sabine origin, to whom king Titus Tatius dedicated altars (arae) in consequence of a votum.[64] Paulus Diaconus considers him a god of lightning.[65]

The name Summanus is thought to be from Summus Manium "the greatest of the Manes",[66] or sub-, "under" + manus, "hand".

According to Martianus Capella,[49] Summanus is another name for Pluto as the "highest" (summus) of the Manes. This identification is taken up by later writers such as Camões ("If in Summanus' gloomy realm / Severest punishment you now endure ...")[67] and Milton, in a simile to describe Satan visiting Rome: "Just so Summanus, wrapped in a smoking whirlwind of blue flame, falls upon people and cities".[68]

Georges Dumézil[69] has argued that Summanus would represent the uncanny, violent and awe-inspiring element of the gods of the first function, connected to heavenly sovereignty. The double aspect of heavenly sovereign power would be reflected in the dichotomy Varuna-Mitra in Vedic religion and in Rome in the dichotomy Summanus-Dius Fidius. The first gods of these pairs would incarnate the violent, nocturnal, mysterious aspect of sovereignty while the second ones would reflect its reassuring, daylight and legalistic aspect.

Temple and Cult edit

The temple of Summanus was dedicated during the Pyrrhic War c. 278 BCE on June 20.[70][71] It stood at the west of the Circus Maximus, perhaps on the slope of the Aventine. It seems the temple had been dedicated because the statue of the god which stood on the roof of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus had been struck by a lightning bolt.[72] Every June 20, the day before the summer solstice, round cakes called summanalia, made of flour, milk, and honey and shaped as wheels,[73] were offered to him as a token of propitiation: the wheel might be a solar symbol. Summanus also received a sacrifice of two black oxen or wethers. Dark animals were typically offered to chthonic deities.[74]

Saint Augustine records that in earlier times Summanus had been more exalted than Jupiter, but with the construction of a temple that was more magnificent than that of Summanus, Jupiter became more honored.[75]

Cicero recounts that the clay statue of the god which stood on the roof of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was struck by a lightning bolt: its head was nowhere to be seen. The haruspices announced that it had been hurled into the Tiber River, where indeed it was found on the very spot indicated by them.[76]

The temple of Summanus itself was struck by lightning in 197 BCE.[77]

Summanus and Mount Summano edit

Mount Summano (elevation 1291 m), located in the Alps near Vicenza (Veneto, Italy), is traditionally considered a site of the cults of Pluto, Jupiter Summanus, and the Manes.

The area was one of the last strongholds of pagan religion in Italy, as shown by the fact that Vicenza had no bishop until 590 CE.[78]

Archeological excavations have found a sanctuary space that dates to the first Iron Age (9th century BCE) and was continuously active until late antiquity (at least the 4th century CE). The local flora is very peculiar, because it was customary in ancient times for pilgrims to bring offerings of flowers from their own native lands.[78]

The mountaintop is frequently struck by lightning. The mountain itself has a deep grotto named Bocca Lorenza, in which, according to local legend, a young shepherdess became lost and disappeared. The story might be an adaptation of the myth of Proserpina, who was abducted by Pluto.[78]

Forge god edit

Sethlans edit

Sethlans is an epithet of Śuri as god of volcanoes, fire, the forge, metalworking, and by extension craftsmanship in general, equivalent to the Egyptian Ptah (creator god), the Greek Hephaestus and the Roman Vulcan.

Merge

In Etruscan mythology, Sethlans (Etruscan: 𐌔𐌍𐌀𐌋𐌈𐌄𐌔) was the god of fire, the forge, metalworking, and by extension craftsmanship in general, the equivalent, though their names share no etymology, to Greek Hephaestus, Egyptian Ptah and the Roman Vulcan. Sethlans is one of the indigenous Etruscan gods. In Etruscan arts Sethlans may be identified by his tools, the hammer and tongs of the blacksmith, and by the pileus or conical cap he wears.

By what appears to be a curious omission,[79] his name does not appear on the bronze liver of Piacenza.

Equivalents in other Pantheons edit

Usil correspond à Hélios en grec, Sol en latin, Sól dans les régions nordique et Ra pour les Égyptiens.

Apollo edit

The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more.

Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is also an important pastoral deity, and was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary duties.

On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged founding new towns and establishment of civil constitution. He is associated with dominion over colonists. He was the giver of laws, and his oracles were consulted before setting laws in a city.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h National Etruscan Museum.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Maras 2010.
  3. ^ Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 204.
  4. ^ a b c d Nonoss 2015.
  5. ^ a b Krauskopf 2006, pp. vii, pp. 73–75.
  6. ^ a b Bonfante & Bonfante 2002, p. 194.
  7. ^ a b c Jannot 2005, p. 146.
  8. ^ Chhawchharia 2015.
  9. ^ a b Babelon 1963.
  10. ^ L'institut. Section 1: Sciences mathématiques, physiques et naturelles (in French). Imprimerie nationale. 1845-01-01. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  11. ^ Desvergers, Noël; Vergers, M. J. L'Étrurie et les Étrusques (in French). Рипол Классик. ISBN 9785879679069. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  12. ^ Noted by J. D. Beazley, "The World of the Etruscan Mirror" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 69 (1949:1–17) p. 3, fig. 1.
  13. ^ Haynes 2000.
  14. ^ De Grummond 2008.
  15. ^ Cristofani 2000.
  16. ^ Cristofani 1985.
  17. ^ a b c De Grummond & Simon 2006.
  18. ^ Bonfante & Swaddling 2006, p. 11.
  19. ^ "La religion étrusque". Arrête ton char. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  20. ^ Bonfante & Swaddling 2006.
  21. ^ Adiego 2016, p. 155.
  22. ^ Virgil, 11.786.
  23. ^ a b c Bouke van der Meer 2013, pp. 323–341.
  24. ^ Myth Index.
  25. ^ Cristofani 2000, pp. 161–162.
  26. ^ Cristofani 1985, pp. 12–13.
  27. ^ John L. Angel; Machteld Johanna Mellink (1986). Troy and the Trojan War: A Symposium Held at Bryn Mawr College, October 1984. Bryn Mawr Commentaries. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-929524-59-7.
  28. ^ a b c Rissanen 2013.
  29. ^ a b c De Grummond 2004, p. 359.
  30. ^ a b Obnorsky 1900.
  31. ^ a b Servius 380b, 11.785.
  32. ^ a b Romano Impero 2021.
  33. ^ Cartwright, Mark, "Hades", World History Encyclopedia, retrieved 2015-06-29
  34. ^ Zavaroni 1996.
  35. ^ Mc Callister & Mc Callister 1999.
  36. ^ De Grummond & Simon 2006, p. 57.
  37. ^ De Grummond 2006, p. 231.
  38. ^ Jannot 2005, pp. 153–154.
  39. ^ Helmut Rix, 1991. Etruskische Texte. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
  40. ^ De Grummond 2006, pp. 229–231.
  41. ^ Jannot 2005, pp. 66–67, 153–154.
  42. ^ Elliott 1995, pp. 17–33.
  43. ^ Krauskopf 1988, pp. 394–399.
  44. ^ a b Kenney & Clausen 1983.
  45. ^ a b c d Colonna 2006, p. 141.
  46. ^ a b Servius 380a, 10.199.
  47. ^ Pallottino 1992.
  48. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Summanus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 77–78.
  49. ^ a b Capella, 2.164.
  50. ^ Classical Association 1918, p. 107.
  51. ^ Nova Roma.
  52. ^ Scarborough 1969.
  53. ^ a b Gellius, 5.12.
  54. ^ Latin Lexicon.
  55. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica: in 30 volumes By Encyclopædia Britannica, Chicago University of, Encyclopædia Britannica Staff, Encyclopædia Britannica(ed.) [1]
  56. ^ Adkins and Adkins, Dictionary of Roman Religion (Facts On File, 1996) ISBN 0-8160-3005-7
  57. ^ The Nature of the Gods by Marcus Tullius Cicero
  58. ^ Pallottino 1992a.
  59. ^ Pallottino 1992b.
  60. ^ Roger D. Woodard, Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult (University of Illinois Press, 2006), pp. 116–117.
  61. ^ Paulus Festi epitome 284L (=229M)
  62. ^ "The temple is said to have been dedicated to Summanus, whoever he may be" (quisquis is est, Summano templa feruntur): Ovid, Fasti 6, 731. Translation by James G. Frazer, Loeb Classical Library. Pliny mentie temple at Natural History 29.57 (= 29.14).
  63. ^ Natural History 2.53 (alternative numbering 52 or 138): "The Tuscan books inform us, that there are nine Gods who discharge thunder-storms, that there are eleven different kinds of them, and that three of them are darted out by Jupiter. Of these the Romans retained only two, ascribing the diurnal kind to Jupiter, and the nocturnal to Summanus; this latter kind being more rare, in consequence of the heavens being colder" (Tuscorum litterae novem deos emittere fulmina existimant, eaque esse undecim generum; Iovem enim trina iaculari. Romani duo tantum ex iis servavere, diurna attribuentes Iovi, nocturna Summano, rariora sane eadem de causa frigidioris caeli). English translation by John Bostock, via Perseus Digital Library.
  64. ^ Varro Lingua Latina V 74.
  65. ^ Entry on Dium above.
  66. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Summanus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 77–78.
  67. ^ Os Lusíadas, IV, 33, translated as The Lusiad by Thomas Moore Musgrave (1826).
  68. ^ In the Latin poem "In Quintum Novembris" (lines 23–24): Talibus infestat populos Summanus et urbes / cinctus caeruleae fumanti turbine flammae.
  69. ^ Myth et epopée vol. III part 2 chapt. 3; Mitra-Varuna: essai sur deux representations indoeuropeennes de la souverainetè Paris 1948 2nd; La religion romaine archaïque Paris 1974; It. tr. Milano 1977 p. 184
  70. ^ Ovid fasti VI 729-731; Fasti Esquil., Venus., Amit.: ad XII Kal. Iul.; CIL I 2nd p. 211, 221,243, 320
  71. ^ Pliny Nat. Hist. XXIX 14; Livy Periochae XIV. For dedication year, see Orlin, Eric M., "Foreign Cults in Republican Rome: Rethinking the Pomerial Rule", Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. 47 (2002), p. 5.
  72. ^ S. Ball Platner, T. Ashby A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome Baltimore 1928 p. 408, citing Cicero de Div. I 10; Livy Periochae XIV; Iordanes I 2, 14-15; 98-100
  73. ^ Festus p.557 L
  74. ^ John Scheid, "Sacrifices for Gods and Ancestors", in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 264; Raffaele Pettazzoni, "The Wheel in the Ritual Symbolism of Some Indo-European Peoples," in Essays on the History of Religions (Brill, 1967), p. 107.
  75. ^ Augustine, City of God IV 23
  76. ^ Cicero De Divinatione I 10
  77. ^ Livy AUC XXXII 29, 1
  78. ^ a b c Puttin, Lucio (1977). Monte Summano: Storia, arte, e tradizioni. Schio.
  79. ^ Noted in this context by H.J. Rose, "The Cult of Volkanus at Rome", The Journal of Roman Studies 23 (1933:46-63) p. 49